ISVAANIANS
"The prince of our survival is pain , suffering , and death." -General Cradtz at the Golegnna offensive Denounced but many as wamongers and destroyers the istavaanians are Radical Inquisitors who believe that mankind must be strong to survive and ascend to it's rightful place amongst the stars. Strength to the Isrvaanian mind is only truly createdd in time of trial , coflict, and sorrow. In the time of disaster , mankind shows it's potency and its potential : unbending , decisive , and valiant , while the weak are cast on to the flames of history as fitting sacrafices to the Imperium's greator glory. The Istvaanians believe that the survival and stregth if the domains of the God-Emperor depend on a process of continual trial and eventual triumph that ensures that they continue and grow. In the Istvaanian ideology, only by passing through near destruction can the weakness of mankind be through near destruction can the weaknessec of mankind be shed and the strong propser. These are the convictions of the Istvaanians, and the beliefs for which they willingly spend the lives of the the impremium's citizenry and soldiers and genesis of the wars, misery, and bloodshed that they create within the realms that they are sworn to protect, for if they do not act , then mankind's strength will fail the imperium's defences weaken and it will be beaten down until humanity it rendered exinct STRENGTH THROUGH TRIAL Istvaanians are named after the infamous planet Istvann III. At the outset of the Horus Hersy, the greatest conflict that mankind has ever faced, the renegade Warmaster Horus virusbombed Istvaan III and in that moment ignited a civil war that that would see brother kill brother , he galaxy in flames and death of billions, Istvaanians point to this moment as the moment that mankind's future was forged. though the Imperium was forced to it's knees and teetred on the edge of the abyss it aultimately triumphed, and from that triump came strength: strength to face the reality of Chaos, strength not to trust , nor cease in vigilance, and strength to act with fury and decisive might. the dark times of the Horus Heresy were moments of transformation and revelation that made the Imperium rise to freatness whilst times of relative peace and prosperity have brought nothing but venal weakness and corruption. to the Istvaanian, the strength of imperium was born out trial of the Horus Heresy, it's achievements wrought out of the necessities of survival. The Imperium, however, cannot rely on the trail and triumphs of the past. The virus bombing of Istvaanians III was the true birth of the Imperium, but for the future, mankind must acheive its own revelation and strength in moments of blood and pain. It musy face moments of terror disasrer and emerge with it's head unbowed it's soul made stronger. THE EVOLUTION OF MIGHT Istvaanians believe that the strength is the vital quality in hostile universe it is vital, because it is strengh that allows mankind to defend itself, strength that keeps it unified, and strength that allows it to destroy those that would destry it, without strength, mankind would be doomed to extinction. The strength , which Istvaanians value, is a result of survivng and truimphing over trials; they believe the more severe the trial, the greater the strength that results. this true strength is the vigour of a battlefield veteran----his body is scared , his sould yet armoured , his skill at arms is without perr. Istaavians and their servants create trial for mankind by creating conflicts in which humanity can struggle, and the disasters ub which they can find thier true strength. When many are tested, some faul , and if the trial is a real test of mind , bodyn or spirit, those that fail may not survive at all , those who cannot survive and cannot triumph are consumed. the Istvaanians view this as blessing, as it removes weakness from the Imperium abd leaves only what is strong. This elimination of those ho are tested and found wanting is a principle that Istvaanians put into brutal practice: they winnow out weak-willed, easily tempted, and decadent with war revolt, and bloody crisis. THE REVELATION OF ADVERSITY Istvaanians believe that revelations and wonder follow in the wake of the mayhem they create, and that it is not just strength that results from disaster and colfilict, They point to manyof the Imperium's greatest achievements that resulted from extraordinary and violent event. In the times of greatest strife and bloodshed, the Imperium took its greates steps forward in all areas of achievement. A favoured example often used in Istvaanian polemics is the coming of Sebastian Thor, his reformation of the Ecclesiarchy, the elimanation of the hidden weakness of Eccclesiasticak dominance, and the renaissance of Imperial power which followed it. Zll of these were only maed possible in Istvaanian eyes because of the bloodshed and tyranny of the Age Apostasy that came before it others point out that the genesis Imperium itself and those that defend it, from the Space martin legions to the Adeptus Mechanicus, were born out of the emperor's great war of unification. To the Istvaanian, the truth is clear for those unfreaid to grasp it. these moments in which mankind makes a great leap forward are only ever made possible in the face of annihilation, the willing sacrifice of blood, and the revelatory experience of imminent destruction. Many go further and state that the more terrible the danger and the greater the price of failure, the greater the heights that the Imperium will ascend to in oerder to overcome it, Therefore, they reason,if humanity is ever to truly dominate the stars it must pass through ever greater and more terrible colflict than before.The Istvaanians also believe that it is the Inquistion's rolle to aid and manage this perocess for the betterment of all; their gifts to the Imperium are the condition of blood and sorrow from which it may reborn THE ENGENDERING OF CONFLICT The chief eoncern of Istvaanian Inquistors is engendering and managing vital coflict. Although all conflict intersts them from personal ambition to economic and social struggles, to the viperous infighting of the nobility-raw violence us the form to which many Istvaanians prefer to devote thier attentions.Warface and the battle for survival for all involved and is fatal to those that fail, winnowinf out the weak. The scale of coflict may be as small as a blood feud between noble houses, or as cataclysmic as a war that engulfs planets and stars and consumes millions of lives before its force is spent. The outcomof the wars, insurgencies, and the vedettas they create is often of little interest to and Istvaanian. The fact these ordeals exist and the effect that they have on those who pass thfough them is everything, and the most such Inquisitors pride themselves on a measured dispassion toward those involved. Istvaanians' interventions are always a matter of judgment and wisdom, as above they wish to strengthen the Imperium, not destroy it. It is those who are oerceived as weak in their eyes tha are the most likely to be subjected to their attentions. But where this fine line of judgment is placed can be a matter of some difference and discord among the faction and between individual istvaanians. while some would not strike ata a world or sector already at war, thers take a grander view and see that war and its outcome is the context of the wider area, or even weigh a conflict's outcome against wars and threats yet to be. They may see a sector or army grown complacebt on victory as easy prey for the foes of the futyre and better purged now; the chaff weeded out from the strong wheat, rather than destroyed utterly later. is is this wonton creation of anarchy, mayhem n and discord as an end in itself than makes many many Inquisitors outside the faction look on the convictions and conspiracies of Istvaanians with incredulous horror. The methods Istvaanians use to create conflict vary from subtle and measured to wild and indiscriminate, as suits their current aims. Many Istvaanians believe that conflict and agression are mankind's natural state and that a nudge in the right direction will create all the bloody conflict that could be desired. by fanning the natural resentment of a populace, working on the paranoia of governor, and introducing a fog of disinformation, an Istvaanian or his agents can create a world of fear and bloodhsed from an atmosphere of peace and harmony. Others will creaye phantom threats whose power induce terror grows with every whispered conversation and whose existence demands a response. Such illusory threats can be small enough to only affect a local population (such as a killer preying on local officials) or vast and terrifying enough to seize the minds of billions and cause the Imperium to mobilise vast resources. Some, of course, abstain from such subtlety and simply start a war when they feel the cause is sufficient. A notorious tactic of Istvaaninans is to first strike one side and leave evidence implicating the other. This in turn creates a counterattack, and before long, an all-out war will have sprung from nowhere. THE CREATION OF DISASTER To the eyes of the most extreme Istvaanoan radicals, a disaster in an extreme trial that leaves those it touches either remade or crushed but its passing. it is trial by fire in which the epitome of Istvaanian doctrine is rendered into a moment of pure revelatio. those Istvaanians who follow his path often manipulate the circumastance that lead to a disaster and let events take their course, rather create them outright although sich agents will engage in major acts of sabotage and terror if it suits their purpose. Th more established, confortable, and indolent the circumstance in which such a disaster occurs, the more it achieved the ends of an Istvaanian as the greater the shoch to the system. Should one these inquisitorial patrins of calamity afind in their judgement that a world is too soft, too fat, and satistfied with its own success, he will see it as his duty to make thay world pay for its privilege. If it is strong despite it appearances, it will survive, but if it was wanting, then that world will be brought down in fire and ruin, and he Imperium will be stronger for it. For a desert sttelment, such a disaster might be the destructionof their water supply; for a Navy Battlefleet, it might be the destruction of a criticak warship carrying the command staff; and if a sector comes under the judgement of an Istvaanian cell, then the result might be the assassination of the lord Sector or the destruction of an entire planet THE HAND WITH THE IRON GAUNTLET One paradox of the Istvaanian position is the desire to buildup the Imperium's might at the same time as insuring that it is challenged. As a result, Inquisitors of the lstvaaniancreed not only create conflict, but also expend much of their energies to help forge the iron fist of Imperial might so that it might triumph in war. The Imperial Guard. Imperial Navy,the leadership of Imperial Governors and Commanders.the Adeptus Arbites and even, where possible. the Adeptus Sororitas, Adeptus Astartes and the Inquisition itself all comeunder the Istvaanian's scrutiny and judgement. Each is a vital part of the Imperium's war machine that must be honed and sharpened in the face of the enemy. Most lstvaanians have close ties with the militant branches of Imperial authori tyand use their influence and resources to manoeuvre strong individuals of proven ability into key positions. While this may seem a practice more in accordance with the conservative doctrines of the Puritan factions, it is in fact merely aconsequence of the Istvaanian quest for creating strength through trial. Often an lstvaanian will promote or manipulate a capable warrior into a position that brings him closer to carefully selected conflicts. In this way. Istvaanians both forge the weapon and ensure it remains strong for when it is truly needed. ISTVAANIANS WITHIN THE HOLY ORDOS The lstvaanians, like any other Radical Faction. are but a small percentage of the Holy Ordos, and most make no overt show within the Conclave of their allegiance and creed. the better to go about their true work. The lstvaanians presence and ideology is long established within the Holy Ordos furthermore. for every true ‘warmongef (as they are often disparagingly named by their comrades) there are still more fellow Inquisitors who give some credence to the lstvaanians concerns and theories. if not their more extreme acts. Rather than a grand conspiracy. one of the factions greatest strengths is that it holds to a single ethos rather than an organisation. In practice, this means that while lstvaanians can and do band together to form covert cells to plan and carry out their interventions. just as many operate on their own, following their own compass of conviction without recourse to each other's knowledge or approval. lstvaanians see every Facet of the Imperium as worthy of their attention. and everything in it either as possible tool for creating vital conflict or for defending humanity. As such. Inquisitors of Istvaanian conviction can be found throughout the Ordos Hereticus, Xenos, and Malleus, each with his own particular sphere of interest and expertise. Those within the Ordo Hereticus use the internal strife and factionalism within tli‘c'Imperium to create civil wars and blood feuds, while also on the fear of the mutant and the witch to create to perceived threats. lstvaanians within the attempt to bring the lmperium and alien races byifirovoking conflict or by stirring up hatred alien. And though their involvement is rarer,the Ordo Malleus provides lstvaanians with such nightmarish possibilities that give even the most diligent Istvaanians pause: inciting malign cults to violent action, releasing forbidden lore or artefacts to attract the attention of the weak and corrupt, or even the ‘controlled’ release of daemons to sow terror and thereby prove the need for ever greater vigilance and brutal response. A significant number of lstvaanians are affiliated with no single Ordo, however. and must find their own Focus and means of achieving their ends. changing fluidly and quixotically between creating strife and purging evil according to what they judge the Imperium to need. A SECRET HISTORY It is not recorded when Istvaanianism was born or how it first flourished: these facts are lost to ancient secrecy and drowned by the tides of blood that have engulfed the lmperium down the millennia. But it is an old doctrine, and along with Xzmthism it vies for position as perhaps the most established and embedded strain of Radicalism within the Inquisition. The convictions and creed on which the Istvaanian doctrine is Founded are not new; the ideas and theories on which they are based are as old as human civilisation and perhaps older still. They came with humanity to the stars like a cold shadow in the mind. and have been part of the fundamental psyche of the lmperium since its inception. It is possible that the lstvaanian doctrine as a cogent theory and movement is in some ways the inevitable product of minds forced to seek the answers to unforgiving questions about humanity's place in the universe and the perils it faces daily-why do some resist the temptations of the warp or triumph over the alien, and why do others fall so easily into treachery, corruption or cowardice? Seeing conflict as a test that revealed weakness and honed strength. the first Istvaanians were drawn to not simply observe and note these qualities, but to promote the circumstances that give rise to them. With time, their convictions deepened. and the management of conflict gave way to promotion and finally outright creation. In that moment. lstvaanianism was born. What hand Istvaanians have had in the long and bloody history of the lmperium cannot be known. even by those that advocate its path. Theirs is a doctrine based on the importance of evolution and trial and thus does not require that the exact end is always known, only that conflict and disaster arises to try the lmperium. It is always too early to say what the final effect of any given action or intrigue will be. and when those intrigues are designed to be things of awe. blood, and power, this is doubly so. The ripples of a single engineered war may be felt for centuries. even millennia. After all. the t consequences of the Warmaster Horus’s bombing of Istvaan Ill still reverberate more than 10.000 years after the end of the Horus Heresy. It may be that were one able to see all causes that led to the rise of a genius or tyrant or to the destruction of a thousand stars, one would find the will and conviction of those such as the Istvaanians. Ignorance of the t ultimate consequences of their actions is of little concern to Istvaanians. It is simply enough that conflict so that mankind might be tried-and in that trial will find strength. THE CRUSADE INTO THE CALYX EXPANSE Not all wars have at their heart the conspiracies and designs of an Istvaanian, but the war that created the Calixis Sector did. according to those lstvaanians who passed the torch to their successors within the Conclave Calixis today. For millennia before a crusade was launched to claim it, the Calyx Expanse was known thanks to the writings of the Rogue Trader Solomon Haarlock who declared it to be a "chalice of great and ancient wickedness" that would only be purchased for the lmperium with a “great effusion of blood." It was this malign reputation that drew the notice of lstvaanians. who saw it as a cauldron of wrath and fire into which servants of the Itnperium could be plunged. and so be tempered by a war of the bloodiest kind. Of those lstvaanians active in Segmentum Obscurus at that time, it was the great and notorious Inquisitor Lord Stark who saw the possibilities of the Calyx Expanse as a field of trial. He used the patronage and the alliances he had assembled over hundreds of years to draw together a conspiracy of Inquisitors of lstvaanian convictions. Under the direction of Lord Stark, these disparate Radicals bent their will to create a movement For war to be waged in the Calyx Expanse. It took a decade of manoeuvring in every branch of the body Imperium before their objective was at last in sight: the raising of a warrior to the rank of Lord Militant and the granting to that warrior of a writ to persecute a crusade within the Calyx Expanse. The design of Inquisitor Lord Stark and his fellow Istvaanians was a success in all but one, crucial detail. At the last minute, the High Lords of Terra decided to pass over Lord Stark’s carefully groomed choice for Lord Militant and instead invested Golgenna Angevin as Lord Militant of the crusade. So it was that the Istvaanians succeeded in creating their crucible of blood and fire but saw the forces plunged into it led. not by a fierce and blooded warrior of their choosing, but by a weak and vain man obsessed by status and patronage. No matter what great qualities lying poets would later give him. to the lstvaanians Angevin's weakness was plain enough that it would require no testing to be proved. To them Angevin's slow decline and the rise of a stronger figure was inevitable. for the only other alternative was that the crusade would turn to a slaughter and the Calyx Expanse remain a place still of darkness. THE FEKSWORLD CALAMITY The Fenksworld Calamity lives in infamy as one of the greatest disasters of the Angevin Crusade. Its consequences can still be seen in the towering mausoleums on the world of Orendal's Tomb. to say nothing of the decades it took to complete the conquest of the Calyx Expanse. In 359.M4l. a second from of the Angevin Crusade was opened by a fresh army group gathered from the core worlds of Segmentum Obscurus. Commended by High Admiral Vaakkon, the new front was intended to link up with Lord Militant Angevin's forces in the central worlds of the Calyx Expanse and shorten by years. Such was the intention. but from the outset the Vaakkon’s forces were beset by warp storms that threw battle groups off target. causing a terrible toll in ships and troops who were lost to the warp. Intelligence on the strength of enemy forces and hostile worlds also proved terminally inadequate, as the 100,000 troops lost in an attempted landing on Woe attested. Despite these setbacks, Vaakkon’s forces moved forward inch by blood-bought inch, and it seemed to all on the second front that matters could get no worse. In fact, they were very wrong. The eventual misjudgement, although none knew it, was the product of premeditated design by servants of the Holy Ordos. The planet of Fenksworld had been established as the crusades primary staging point. The space above the planet swarmed with loaders, troop transports, and spear-prowed warships, all gorging on the fuel and supplies fed to them by the installations that had been towed into the system and anchored in high orbit. The life blood of the second from flowed through the docks of Fenksworld. and its loss would be disastrous-but also nearly impossible, given its defences. Impossible, that is. as long as one ignored the possibility of treachery. The Istvaanian cabal that shadowed the crusade had so far been most satisfied with how the Admiral Vaakkon and his forces had risen to the challenges on the second front, but in Fenksworld they saw an opportunity that could not be wasted to grant the man either death or glory which would see the endeavour of the crusade “put back on the right track." It took months of careful work by covert agents to’ introduce just enough terminal stress and potential flaws?‘ into the systems controlling the movement of craft around the Fenksworld docks. and considerably more effort to get suicide-programmed tech-priest and assassin Acolytes aboard the Apocalypse-Class Battleship Tempest’: Claild. Then, as the vast Form of Tempest’: Child approached Fenksworld, several 1 crucial scanning and communication systems were crippled, ’-7 the bridge crew massacred, and its engine and reactor output locked to maximum. As flocks of craft jostled in confusion around the docks. the stricken warship ploughed into them. Over fifteen warships, twenty mass conveyors, and countless other craft were lost in an expanding cascade of destruction. The Fenksworld life line was cut. and hundreds of thousands of troops scattered amongst the hostile stars had their support stripped away. The Fenksworld Calamity did not destroy the second from. but cost the lives of millions and extended the crusade by years, even decades. For the Istvaanians. their actions were later vindicated when the unbreakable warriors that came out of the hell of the second from became the keystone of the battle against the dark forces that were to beset the Crusade in later years as it pushed ever onwards into the Hazeroth Abyss and the Adrantis Nebula. They would say that such heroes were bought by fire and calamity in the void above Fenksworld. THE MARA LANDING MASSACRE The mara landing massacre was, apparently. one of the greatest tragedies of mis-navigation ever to occur within the Calixis Sector. The ice world of Mara is a cursed place where no man is permitted to set foot. A frozen world devoid of life, Mara was once home of a number of Imperial installations. including a mining facility. Through a series of incidents so dark and terrible that their details are held under seal by the Holy Ordos, Mara was stripped of all living souls and left alone in the cold void to be a place of secret legends and tales of madness It remains quarantined to this day. patrolled by ships from Battlefleet Calixis. Soon after the landing, all communication with the surface was lost. First-person reports from breathless dropship pilots told how the troops deployed to the surface had begun to slaughtereach other. and discordant sounds began to rip through themmunications networks-alongside cries imploring someone to “make the buzzing stop." Not knowing how to respond, the officers poured more troops onto the surface of Mara until most of the soldiers had been deployed. When the Imperial Navy patrol ships reached the Vervilix five days later, only a few hundred survivors could be recovered from the thousands who had set foot on Mara. An investigation by the Holy Ordos detemined that the it it was a tragedy of misadventure. Most of the survivors were executed, and quarantine patrols around the ice world were doubled. Since the massacre, rumours have persisted in the Calixian Conclave that the cascade of accidents and coincidences that lead to the disastrous planetfall were not the product of chance, but carefully planned and orchestrated by the renegade lstvaanian Inquisitor Amaros and her close servants. It is said that Amaros was keen to see whether any useful survivors could be created and harvested from exposing untried guardsmen to such a great, unknown threat. The involvement of lstvaanians in engineering the circumstances of the massacre has never been proven, although a number of the survivors who were not executed for potential taint were quietly drawn into the service of several Inquisitors with suspected links to Amaros, a fact which may itself have sparked the theory. This harvest of survivors was bought in the blood and madness of thousands, but if the stories are true, its creator likely considered it a small price to pay. CURRENT CONSPIRACIES "Our test is crisis; no others are of worth. All life is war; all war is life It is self-evident. Every human being is born with blood on their hands" -Lady Alecto Amaros, On War, Vol1 Istvaanians are commonly seen as rash and headstrong individuals who will not allow the lmperium a moment's respite from strife and conflict. The relative current stability of the Calixis sector might, therefore, indicate a small or inconsequential involvement by the warmonget Inquisitors within the sector. Nothing could be further from the truth. Istvaanian actions have been woven into the fabric of the sector since before the Angevin Crusade, and a hardened core of lstvaanian lnquisitors operates at the heart of the Calixian Conclave. The current situation is simply the quiet before the coming storm as far as they are concerned. a storm that may be unleashed if several powerful Istvaanian conspiracies bear fruit. THE HYADES LOCKS A number of powerful lstvaanians within the Tyrantine Cabal have discovered passages within the deep archives that speak of the Hyadcs Locks. a subject with which they have become rapidly obsessed. The nature of these devices is uncertain, but the fragments of ancient legend and prophecy speak of them as “great locks to the portals through which all shall pass to endless sleep. held fast by ages and secured by the and indicate that they are present on a number of worlds the sector. It seems clear to the Istvaanians that opening these locks will destroy the worlds on which they rest. The efforts of a number of Istvaanian lnquisitors, including Lady Amaros. have uncovered indications that one of these devices exists in the heart of the Golgenna Reach. Using any means at their disposal, these Inquisitors are racing to discover the exact location of this and other Hyades Locks. and the keys to open them. Whether the key is metaphorical, allegorical, or literal is currently unclear. as the only reference to it is contained within the Propheticum Hererticus Tencbrae and speaks only of a key once held by the herald." The intent of the lstvaanians. should they find both lock and key. is simple: open the lock and let the death of a world shake Calixis out of its dormancy and content. Unfortunately for the Istvaanians. the matter of the Haydes Locks pertains to events and powers already in motion far outside the warmonger's usual remit. They are dangerously late comers to a particularly dark and terrible game and may well suffer for it. THE MADNESS OF MARUIS HAX Sector Governor Marius I-{ax is a fair and even-handed man who many believe is slipping into paranoia and tyranny. This change has not been one of his own making, nor a consequence of some weakness of mind. It is the product of careful manipulation by agents sewing masters of the lstvaanian conviction. lnquisitors who see the myriad threats and dark prophesies that are rising like shadows all around the Calixis Sector as a coming trial by fire, in which Hax must prosper or the sector must die. Devoted to ordered rule, and harsh in his judgement of anything that threatens it, Hax has had his nature played on by carefully engineered assessments of the sector's stability, steered by incidents which cause him to question the loyalties of hisservants and the Adepta. Moreover, advisers who serve other. secret masters have been carefully positioned to bend his ear. By these means, a number oflstvaanians have succeeded in making Hax increase the military power of the Lord Sector's office beyond its direct necessity and secure the armed forces loyal to him alone, such as the notorious Chaliccd Commissariat. These manipulators are also nudging the Lord Sector's perception and mental state further and further into fear of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. Inch by inch, they are creating Marius Hax as a fanatic who will rise to a crisis at the head of a tide of blood and iron. Such a deadly crisis is surely not far off. THE ISTVAANIANS AND OTHER INQUISITORIAL FACTION The Istvaanians agendas as warmongers and agents of anarchy tend to conflict with those of most other Radical and Puritan factions within the Inquisition. Those who perhaps comes closest to concordance with lstvaanian convictions are the philosophies of the Recongregators. who wish to tear down the stagnant monoliths of the lmperium and replace them with bold agencies of change. Both Factions frequently foment rebellion within the Imperium. operate covertly, and mayhem and disorder. This agreement is, however, largely superficial. as the creation of conflict, disorder and mayhem is an end itself to the lstvaanians; what comes afier is an inevitable consequence of the disaster acting on mankind, On occasion, agents of the lstvaanians and Recongregators work in concert, but it rarely results in more than the briefcst alliance. Like the Recongregators, the destabilising nature of lstvaanian operations puts them in frequent and bitter conflict with the powerful Amalathians who value order and continuity above all else. Other factions, both Puritan and Radical, are seen by lstvaanians as being of little importance in terms of what they believe or do. but are seen as vital for creating conflict within the Inquisition itself. It is not uncommon for lstvaanians to wade in on one side or another of a clash between lnquisitors of rival factions for no other reason than to make the strife between members of the Inquisition all the more intense. This, however, can lead to profound trouble for the Istvaanian forces involved, particularly if they have meddled in the affairs of powerful or supremely dangerous factions such as the Xanthites or the Libricar. whose retaliation is likely to be both brutal and swift. Like all Radical factions, the Istvaanians are either viewed as contemptible or dangerous by the Puritan majority, while many other Radicals sec lstvaanians as destructive and impetuous fools who upset and destroy things of which they have no deeper understanding, and whose actions ultimately weaken the lmperium. ACOLYTES OF THE ISTVAANIANS Many Acolytcs who serve Istvaanian Inquisitors are drawn from the militant arms of the Imperium or from worlds where strife and destruction is a way of life. Given their bombastic and warmongering nature, this preference is unsurprising. Many lstvaanian Inquisitors have contacts within the Imperial Guard. Adeptus Arbites. Departmento Munitorium, and Imperial Navy who they use to recruit warriors, killers, and sabotcurs into their service. Given their proclivities. Istvaanian Inquisitors are particularly fond of recruiting and sponsoring “survivors" into their service, a practice that is far from uncommon throughout the Holy Ordos, but sits particularly well with the lstvaanian mindset. Particularly prized are individuals who are veterans of great conflicts or who have overcome appalling adversity and beaten the odds to survive. So valued are the progeny of such calamitous events that some extremist lstvaanians will engineer a particular kind of catastrophe so that they can recruit the hardened individuals who emerge from its rubble and ashes. Many lstvaanian operations are undertaken covertly within the lmperium. often in direct opposition to Imperial authority. Acolytes who serve an Istvaanian master must be more than mere blunt tools; they must be resourceful. capable of autonomous action. and of course deniable, should they be discovered. Many are trained infiltrators recruited froth assassin cults or other organisations that exist on the borderline between Imperial sanction and heresy. lstvaanian must first make sure to completely sever any to their Acolytes' past lives and ensure that are stripped away.